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Selection of JUICE mission to Jupiter and Ganymede by ESA

8 May 2012

ESA's next "large class" (L-class) mission will be a mission called JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer) to study the giant planet Jupiter, its planetary system and magnetosphere, and particularly its moon Ganymede.

Since 2007 scientists across Europe and beyond have been studying missions that have been in competition for the European Space Agency's
(ESA) next "large-class" mission to be launched around 2022. On 2 May
2012 the ESA Space Program Committee selected JUICE from a set of three
competing mission concepts which had been rigorously studied and
investigated for more than five years.

JUICE will launch in 2022 and will arrive in the jovian
system in 2030,
finally entering orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar
system, in 2032. The moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede are thought to
host internal oceans underneath an icy crust and the mission will study
these moons as potential habitats for life. JUICE will also continuously
observe Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere, and how the moons
interact with Jupiter itself.

Prof. Andrew Coates has been involved in the definition of the mission and Dr. Chris Arridge
has participated in the magnetospheres working group helping define the
magnetospheric science that JUICE will address. Prof. Coates is also
leading an international consortium involved in the development of a
proposed instrument suite for JUICE.